Women's Empowerment Principles: Why Business Should Care?

WOMEN’S
EMPOWERMENT
PRINCIPLES
WHY BUSINESS SHOULD CARE?

OurVision
Our Mission
Our Programme Goal
We seek a world of hope, tolerance and social justice, where poverty has been
overcomeandpeopleliveindignityandsecurity.
CAREInternationalwillbeaglobalforceandapartnerofchoicewithinaworldwide
movement dedicated to ending poverty.We will be known everywhere for our
unshakablecommitmenttothedignityofpeople.
In India we seek a society which celebrates diversity, where rights are secured,
citizenshiprealised,andhumanpotentialfulfilledforall.
A shared understanding of the organisation's mission is also critical to lead
everyone's work towards a common purpose. Our mission statement is:
We fight poverty and exclusion by empowering women and girls from the poor
and marginalised communities.
Five million women and girls from the most marginalised communities in India
have the power to realise choices in personal and public spheres to advance
their positions.
CARE India will accomplish this goal by working with 50 million people to help
them meet their health, education and livelihoods entitlements.

Gaining an Edge
through Gender Equality
Gaining an Edge
Gaining an Edge
Gaining an Edge
Gaining an Edge
Through Gender Equality
A Practical Guide to Making the Women’s Empowerment Principles Possible

2 | Women’s Empowerment Principles – Why Business Should Care?
ABOUT THE SUPPORTING
ORGANISATIONS
GLOBAL COMPACT NETWORK, INDIA
The Global Compact Network (GCN), India (formerly known as Global Compact
society), was formed in November 2003 and registered as a non-profit Society to
function as the Indian Local Network of the Global Compact Programme. Today
there are more than 80 Global Compact Local Networks in key markets across the
world. The Networks provide an opportunity for members to share experiences,
innovative practices and to collaborate for furtherance of responsible business values
within country specific contexts. GCN India is the first Local Network in the world to
be established with full legal recognition. Functioning within a globally recognised
and established initiative, with a pan-India membership base, GCN provides an
extremely relevant vehicle for Indian business, academic institutions and civil society
organisations to join hands towards strengthening Responsible Business initiatives in
India and internationally.
CARE INDIA
CARE is a leading development organisation with an extensive global network
working to address poverty in India for more than 60 years. Through its programmes
in the areas of health, education, livelihoods and disaster response, CARE has
impacted on extreme poverty and social injustice in India by reaching out to more than
16 million women and girls from the most disadvantaged communities. Women and
girls are at the heart of CARE’s community-based efforts because, equipped with
the proper resources, women have the power to help families and entire communities
escape poverty. CARE partners with public and private sector agencies, local partners
and communities, designing and implementing models that help poor people to
access their rights and entitlements. CARE also collaborates with national and state
governments to ensure maximum effectiveness of programmes.

Women’s Empowerment Principles – Why Business Should Care? | 3
Foreword
Acknowledgements
About the Guide
The Women’s Empowerment
Principles – Equality Means
Business
The Business Case for
Gender Equality
Why Empower Women?
Making Individual Gender
Aware Decisions
The Reality for Women in
India
Integrating the WEPs into
Business Practices
Conclusion
Abbreviations
Glossary and Terms
Bibliography
Contents
4
5
6
7
9
15
16
18
22
38
38
39
40

Foreword
Most readers are likely to agree that our society should be gender equal. Yet, as the evidence
clearly illustrates, the real situation in our country does not resonate well for our collective
aspiration of becoming a powerhouse of the global economy. Our record, in the case of many
indices related to gender, is at par with, or worse than, some of the least developed nations
in the world. Of course, things are changing for the better, in our boardrooms, offices, on
factory floors, in colleges, schools and most importantly, in our families. While addressing
gender stereotypes, biases and discrimination, we as individuals should be under no illusion
and acknowledge that none of us are free of gendered perceptions. Gender stereotyping
is systemic in all societies. It is there in varying degrees in each of us and hence in all the
institutions that we operate in. What we have to be aware of is that our socialisation often
makes us blind to many of our gender biases.
As businesses, we are known for our innovation, resourcefulness and ability to get things
done.We can potentially be an important game changer for women’s empowerment. The
Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP) launched by the United Nations Global Compact
(UNGC) and UN for Women on 8th March, 2010, on International Women’s Day, is an
important point of departure for all of us who would like business to play a crucial role in
ushering in a gender equal society. The task at hand, once we are committed to the cause,
is not easy, and there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. As part of our leadership commitment,
we need to take a hard and comprehensive look at how we – as individuals, companies and
sectors – impact the lives of women within our spheres of influence, both with internal and
external stakeholders. We need to then put in place conscious systems that foster equality
between men and women.
Such actions cannot be considered altruistic efforts. They are driven by self-interest and
would be increasingly imperative in a company’s effort to remain at the top. In a business
environment steeped in a sense of crisis and uncertainty, old ways of working are
increasingly being revaluated. Actively promoting a gender just society is one of the ways
for companies to make a mark and have increased stakeholder confidence. I hope that this
Primer will instill in the minds of business leaders and managers a sense of the urgency, the
extent of the challenge, and also the exciting nature of the work that has already been taken
up by companies around the world.
Vinita Bali
CARE India
Board member
Global Compact Network, India
CARE India

Acknowledgements
This Practical Guide was commissioned by CARE India for the consultation ‘Women’s
Empowerment – Why Businesses Should Care’, December 2011. I would like to thank the
core advisory team from CARE for their facilitation on this work, including Alka Pathak,
Amelia Andrews, George Kurien, G Senthil Kumar, Meera Sundarajan, Mercy Manoranjini,
Namit Aggarwal, Smita Singh, Tim Bishop, as well as consultants Pinaki Roy and Victoria
Love.
A special thanks to Mark Hodge and Kathryn Dovey from Global Business Initiative on
Human Rights, Katherine Miles from Ernst and Young and Allison Claire Burden from
CARE for their critical review and inputs and Phaedra Engel- Harrison for copy editing the
document.
The support from Ursula Wynhoven and Lauren Gula from the UN Global Compact, New
York, must be acknowledged. Special words of gratitude to Larraine Mills from UN Women
for her help with networking, Githa Roleans from ILO and Joan Libby Hawk, Advisor on the
Women Empowerment Principles, UN Women and UNGC, and Dr. Govind Kelkar, Senior
Advisor, UN Women South Asia, for their valuable inputs into the document as well. I would
also like to thank Dr. Alka Mittal from ONGC for her insightful perspectives on the issue.
CARE India also extends its appreciation to the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC),
India, for its full support in the production of this Primer.
Sayantoni Datta

ABOUT
THE
PRACTICAL
GUIDE
This Primer is an introductory
resource providing examples
of translating the Women’s
Empowerment Principles
(WEPs) within the business
context in India. It pools in
some initial self assessment
tools, examples and
practical cases of initiatives
and strategies on diverse
aspects that would support
your company in initiating
the implementation of the
Women Empowerment
Principles with WEPs,
marketplace and the
community.
The Primer is an easy
to understand document
highlighting issues specific
to India that can be used
by professionals at diverse
levels of a company
(Managers, HR Managers,
Team Leaders, Senior
Leaders, and Corporate
Social Responsibility [CSR]
professionals).
Stakeholders utilising the
Primer would primarily be
looking at:
• Starting a dialogue on
women’s empowerment
within a company
• Self assessment of ability
to create empowering
environments within the
company
• Points of departure to begin
working towards women’s
empowerment
As a preliminary learning
document the Primer aims to:
• Introduce the WEPs
• Establishes why women’s
empowerment is important
• Discusses the business
case for women’s
empowerment
• Provides some examples of
how to integrate the WEPs
into business practices
The Primer, as is the case
with any such document, has
its limitations. It just touches
the tip of the proverbial
iceberg and provides a
simplified introduction to
the complex issue at hand.
It gives the reader a heads
up on the issues, debates
and leads that s/he can
follow. Any effort towards
addressing dilemmas and
dimensions associated with
women’s empowerment,
as well as for ensuring
positive corporate roles
and accountability on the
same, would need sustained
leadership commitment
and dedicated resources.
Since the guide initiates a
beginning to the dialogue
on the WEPs in India for the
first time, it is assumed that
as more minds get together,
many more perspectives and
ideas would enrich what is
discussed herein in future.

WOMEN’S
EMPOWERMENT
PRINCIPLES
Equality Means Business
The Women’s Empowerment
Principles – Equality Means
Business is a partnership
initiative of UN Women and
the UN Global Compact
(UNGC) that encourages
engagement with business,
civil society, the United
Nations and Governments
to advance and empower
women in the workplace,
marketplace and community.
While designed as a tool for
business to strengthen and
create company policies
and programmes to achieve
gender equality, these
seven Principles provide a
platform for all stakeholders
to move their commitments
to gender equality closer
to implementation. The
Principles emphasise the
business case for corporate
action to promote gender
equality and women’s
empowerment and are
informed by real-life business
practices and input gathered
from across the globe.The
Global Compact Network,
India and CARE India
support the WEPs and have
made their promotion and
realisation an organisational
priority.The principles were
launched on 8th March,
2010, by UN Women and
UNGC, to help companies
make tangible commitments;
champion the issues related
to gender equality; and make
gender transformation a
reality in their context.
The WEPs seek ways
in which best practices
may be adopted by the
business community and a
gender dimension may be
incorporated into corporate
citizenship. They are guided
by international instruments
such as the Convention on
Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women, the
Universal Declaration
on Human Rights, the
International Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination, and
the International Covenant
on Economic and Social
Cultural Rights. They also
provide more clarity to
a number of the UNGC
Principles.While all the ten
UNGC principles need to
have a gender perspective
incorporated, the WEPs offer
Women’s Empowerment Principles in Brief
1. Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality
2. Treat all women and men fairly at work–respect and support
human rights and nondiscrimination
3. Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men
workers
4. Promote education, training and professional development for
women
5. Implement enterprise development, supply chain and
marketing practices that empower women
6. Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy
7. Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender
equality
A joint initiative of UN Women and UN Global Compact
1
Maureen Kilgour, The UN Global Compact and Substantive Equality for Women
a gender roadmap for companies and
can be considered to be closely related
to the first UNGC principle which states
that ‘Businesses should support and
respect the potentials of internationally
proclaimed human rights’, the second
which states that ‘Businesses need to
make sure that they are not complicit
in human rights abuses’ and the
sixth principle which calls for the
‘Elimination in discrimination in respect
of employment and occupation’.1
Implementing the WEPs means
internalising them at various levels
within the company. In order to bring
about a transformation, the principles
need to be integrated with the various
systems and structures that govern
business practices and policies. All
of the principles depend on both
individual business decisions and
broader shifts in culture and policy.

1. Women Empowerment Principles (detailed version)
http://www.unifem.org/attachments/stories/
WomensEmpowermentPrinciples.pdf
2. Women’s Empowerment Principles Booklet, 2nd Edition
(July 2011) http://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_
doc/human_rights/Resources/WEP_EMB_Booklet.pdf
3. Current List of Signatories to the CEO Statement of Support
(updated regularly) http://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/
issues_doc/human_rights/WEPs_CEO_Statement_of_
Support_Signatories.pdf
THE WEPs ARE APPLICABLE TO INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS DECISIONS
AND BROADER SHIFTS IN CULTURE AND POLICY FOR COMPANIES/
ORGANISATIONS
SpheresofInfluenceInnerspaces
Flexible work
options, leave and re-
entry opportunities
Workplace policies
and practices
discrimination free
Applying WEPs:
Individual decisions
and Policies
Safe working
conditions
Gender sensitive
recruitment and
promotions
Establish
benchmarks to
quantify inclusion
Health and Safety
of workers and
community
Equal access
to all company
supported
training
programmes
Promotion
of women’s
enterprises
Dignity of women
in all marketing
and company
materials
Upgrading skills
and encouraging
women to
enter into non-
traditional fields
4. Companies Leading the Way: Putting Principles
into Practice (updated July 2011) http://www.
unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/human_rights/
Resources/Companies_Leading_the_Way.pdf
5. Meeting Report – Equality Means Business: Putting
Principles into Practice (9-10 March 2011) http://www.
unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/human_rights/
WEPs/2011/Meeting_Report_Mar11.pdf
What are the core background documents for the WEPs partnership?

Many companies have already begun to recognise that ensuring women’s empowerment
and gender equality is not a philanthropic initiative, but integral to organisational culture,
good economics and accountability. The evidence for this includes Mckinsey’s Women
Matter Series (2007 onwards); reports by Catalyst (a research group that has studied
companies in India and internationally); regular debates on establishing the need to
recognise gender equality and women’s leadership in business forums; and the process of
tracking progress in bridging the gender gap by the World Economic Forum; all instances
of how powerful arguments have emerged making the business case for gender equality.
The following points give a summarised version of these key arguments. They provide an
idea of why business has begun to take women’s empowerment seriously.
Women consumers are an important market
1. Women are an emerging market and an important consumer segment particularly
in the post-crisis economy. Some studies have predicted that targeting women
consumers would mean larger markets than reaching out to India and China2
2. A study by the Global Markets Institute, Goldman Sachs looks at spending patterns as
key drivers of growth in the post crisis economy. It predicts that closing the gender gap
also means shifts in spending patterns and the choices of women in these spending
patterns
3. Some management experts predict that women above the age of 65 in Europe and the
US comprise a large number of potential investors
It is well known that
diversity in company
boards bring dramatic
results in comparison
to homogenous boards.
Besides the fact that
women are a growing
consumer force, there is
also serious competition
for talent in the labour
market. We have had to
change our gender biases
so more talented women
can be brought within
the fold of the company.
Jaspal Bindra, Standard
Chartered.
The
business case
for women’s
empowerment and
gender equality
2
Silverstein and Sayre, The Female Economy, Harvard Business Review http://news.curves.com/images/20003/
HBR%20The%20Female%20Economy.pdf

Equality in the workplace can make businesses more
profitable
4. Inclusion of women in boards of companies and leadership
positions, have improved company performance and
finances3
5. Companies with highest representation of women on
their top management teams experienced better financial
performance than companies with the lowest women’s
representation4
Women’s equality on a national level can help build wealth
for society, and thus business
6. High growth sectors, such as the information technology
sector, have had a huge number of women workers enabling
their performance levels. Inclusion of diversity perspectives
and gender perspectives into the organisational culture
and practices helped with bringing on board innovation and
phased work on diversity by IBM. IBM now employs the most
skilled women in technology
7. Investing in women creates virtuous cycles of progress.
This belief has encouraged corporate philanthropic activity
focused on women which would lead to a wider impact of
poverty reduction termed the ‘economic case for gender
equality’. The World Development Report 2012 by the World
Bank traces out these virtuous cycles of progress
8. Studies on women cultivators and producers state that
productivity in agriculture can increase manifold if women
were given more ownership of resources and there was an
elimination of barriers to the same5
Other Findings
• Nine Indian companies run by the most prominent women
managers outperformed the 30 leading listed firms on the
Bombay Stock Exchange. (Economic Times Report, 2009)
• Companies with the highest representation of women
on their top management teams experienced better
financial performance than companies with the lowest
representation of women. This finding holds for both
financial measures analysed: Return on Equity (ROE),
which was 35 percent higher, and Total Return to
Shareholders (TRS), which was 34 percent higher.
(The Bottomline Line: Connecting Corporate Performance
and Gender Diversity, Catalyst, January 2004)
Hindustan Unilever:
Focus on Rural Women
With a long record of market leadership in
India, Hindustan Unilever has market shares of
nearly 60 percent in categories including soap,
detergent, and shampoos. But the liberalisation
of India’s economy and the opening of markets
to foreign multinationals such as Procter &
Gamble increased the pressure to improve
revenues and profits. By the late 1990s,
the company was looking for the next big
opportunity: to reach the really small villages
that were not part of their distribution network.
The business case for focusing on rural Indian
markets was clear. India has the world’s
second-largest population after China, and
more than 70 percent of its 1.2 billion people
living in rural areas.
While the business reason was clear, setting
up a distribution channel to reach remote parts
of India was less straightforward. Hindustan
Unilever had been tapping into some of the
rural populations through such tools as van
road shows, but a large share remained
outside its reach. It came up with an interesting
solution: build a distribution system through a
network of women micro entrepreneurs to get
the product directly to consumers.
It designed Shakti, a direct-to-consumer sales
distribution network that relies on 45,000
female micro entrepreneurs and has tapped
into 3 million homes across 135,000 villages
in remote rural markets. The programme has
brought a new competitive advantage and
increased profits while increasing women’s
incomes.
3
Mckinsey and Company, Gender Diversity: A Corporate Performance Driver, http://www.mckinsey.com/
locations/swiss/news_publications/pdf/women_matter_english.pdfhttp://www.fao.org/docrep/X0198E/
x0198e03.htm
4
Catalyst, The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity, January 2004
http://www.catalyst.org/publication/82/the-bottom-line-connecting-corporate-performance-and-gender-
diversity
5
Food and Agricultural Organisation, Factors And Constraints Affecting Women’s Roles In Food Security,
http://www.fao.org/docrep/X0198E/x0198e03.htm
Source: World Development Report 2011, World Bank

How have different companies established the business case for women’s empowerment and gender equality so far?
1. Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment :The Learning Journey of Standard Chartered Bank http://pslforum.
worldbankgroup.org/casestudies/standardchartered/casestudy_standardchartered.pdf
2. Mckinsey and Company. Gender Diversity: A Corporate Performance Driver http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/swiss/
news_publications/pdf/women_matter_english.pdf
3. Mckinsey and Company . WOMEN MATTER 2007. http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/paris/home/womenmatter/pdfs/
Women_matter_oct2007_english.pdf
4. Deloitte.The Gender Dividend. http://www.deloitte.com/assets/DcomGreece/dttl_ps_genderdividend_130111.pdf
5. Mckinsey and Company. Female Leadership a Competitive Edge for the Future. http://www.mckinsey.de/downloads/
publikation/women_matter/Women_Matter_2_brochure.pdf
6. FOCUS: Women on Boards, Conversations with Male Directors http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/cgf.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/
Focus9/$FILE/Focus9_Women_on_Boards.pdf
7. Mckinsey and Company. Women in leadership. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/equalsharing/Indira%20Hirway.
pdf
8. Vinnova. Innovation and Gender http://www.vinnova.se/upload/EPiStorePDF/vi-11-03.pdf
9. VIDEO: CNBC The Gender Agenda :Putting Parity into Practice’ http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=1407973482

The
RED FLAGS IN
THE BUSINESS CASE
the competitive success of labour
intensive industries such as garment
industries and plantations in parts of
South Asia, where women agreed to
work for longer hours with lesser pay
in comparison to men.
Example 2: Several advertising
campaigns tend to portray
women through traditional gender
stereotypes. For example, in many
advertisements in India women were
shown doing household chores or as
being confined to the kitchen, while
men were shown judging the quality
of food cooked, cleanliness of the
kitchen, clothes and home. Some
advertisements used gender biased
humour to create that market edge on
selling products to men. To enhance
women’s empowerment, corporate
advertisements need to be modified to
portray sensitive and cooperative men
who can be become role models.
Experience demonstrates that
advertisements working towards the
positive reinforcement of women’s
identities and self esteem, have
worked. This is evinced by the
changing nature of advertisements for
women’s cosmetic products. In many
cases companies selling fairness
cream products with strong gender
or racial bias had to rethink the
stereotypes that they have produced
through their advertising campaigns
in India. Competitive alternatives such
as ‘natural cosmetics’ enhancing the
natural skin colour have alternatively
begun to flood the market showing the
possibility of a new set of emerging
dynamics and wars on how ‘beauty is
defined’. These dynamic processes
also show that businesses are finding
the need to build adequate knowledge
on the changing attitudes of women
towards themselves and of society
towards women.
Gender and class biases shown in
the negative stereotyping of domestic
workers in an advertisement by a
telecom company in India raised public
outcry. The presence of a strong
association of workers, the Domestic
Workers Association in India, resulted in
a legal case against the company for the
negative stereotyping of workers. Rising
consumer awareness, associations
and campaigns and codes of conduct
are external regulations that have had
businesses feeling the growing need to
be accountable.
B. Are we looking at women’s
empowerment or just focusing on
women?
There is already a huge shift towards
working with women in a positive way.
However women’s empowerment
also means changing existing gender
relations or hierarchies.
Example 1: A corporate philanthropic
foundation proposes that women and
girls are key drivers of powerful social
and economic change. The foundation
suggests that investing in girls will
unlock their largely untapped economic
potential, since girls are more likely to
reinvest their income in the prosperity
of their families, leading to improved
education and health outcomes for their
children. While the focus on investing in
women is welcome, the business case
gives an instrumentalist view of gender
equality and undermines the point that
gender equality is an end in itself. Such
statements can also exacerbate existing
gender norms or women as mothers,
care givers and people who act only in
the domestic sphere.
In spite of this growing positive
scenario there is a need to be
cautious. The challenge in developing
the business case is on how to focus
on women to give a company a
market edge - ‘gender dividend’ or
‘diversity premium’, without reinforcing
stereotypes and inequalities. These
are the red flags in a business case.
Some of them have been pointed out
through the following questions and
examples.
A.Is the case taking advantage
of or mitigating gender biases and
discrimination for a market edge?
Example 1: A study by the Harvard
Business School explores how
multinational companies took
advantage of the gender divide that
exists in South Korea and started
hiring unemployed women who
comprised half the talent pool in
the country. This resulted in the
companies having a competitive
advantage over the local employers
who had avoided hiring women due to
discrimination.6
While those working
with less gender bias took advantage
of this situation, a red flag could be
raised on whether the companies that
were hiring women were paying them
equal pay for equal work.
Gender discrimination sometimes
provides a competitive advantage
for employers specifically because
women agree to work for lower
wages. This has been the reason for
6
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6498.html

C. Does the business case look at a
comprehensive culture shifts?
Example 1: A large healthcare
company specialising in life saving
medicines and vaccines has
committed to work on maternal
health issues. This also has a close
alignment with its core business
strategies. It has thus focused
on the Women’s Empowerment
Principal which talks of promoting
gender equality in the community by
announcing collaboration with partners
to develop game-changing maternal
health technologies for widespread
use in resource-poor settings. This
is important, given the problems of
maternal health in such settings. It
also indicates a long term commitment
to the issue, and specifically focuses
on three innovations that address
specific complications related to
maternal mortality and family planning.
While this is a very clear gender
specific strategy it is not clear on
whether the company will incorporate
the understanding of gender equality
on all aspects of its work. The red flags
raised in gender specific interventions
by companies actually question the
motive towards cultural change, are
these interventions ‘tokenistic’ or are
they directed towards a long term
and embedded commitment which
the company sees as beneficial for its
business as well.
A study conducted on Nordic
companies, tracked corporate gender
equality strategies and the directions
they took along a dynamic model.
It made a distinction between those
companies that included gender equal
strategies based on short term goals
and those that found a close affirmation
of the same in its business case with
long term impacts.
http://www.vinnova.se/upload/EPiStorePDF/vi-11-03.pdf
Content
Focused actions
Selected actions
Mainstreamed actions
Process
One-shot approach
Building-block approach
Continuous approach
Outcomes
Limited results
Random results
Across-the-board results
Factors (mothers and influences)
Initiators
Facilitators
Catalysts
Refer to the Dynamic Model used to track corporate gender equality strategies at Innovation and Gender, Vinnova

The study observed that different kinds of strategies give rise
to different results. Those companies with focused actions
tended to see limited results or were characterised by short-
term or one-shot approach. Companies looking for a wider
impact of their actions often had a medium-term outlook and
building-block approach for continued efforts towards specific
goals. A long-term perspective and a continuous approach
featured in companies where the business case for gender
equality was constantly affirmed and actions were integrated
at every step with overall strategic planning. The medium and
long term approaches on many occasions led to across the
board results of shifting organisational and cultural changes
towards innovation within, mainstreaming gender dimension
in all policies and promotion of gender equality. While the
Dynamic model focused on using gender equality strategies to
promote innovation in companies, a similar model may be built
to look at how companies make that overall change to gain
that edge through gender equality.
Key Points to Consider on the Business Case for
Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality
1. Avoid taking a competitive advantage due to pre-existing
gender discrimination
2. While a lack of focus on women is a business problem,
build in the case for women’s empowerment
3. Keep reaffirming the business case while building
strategies from gender specific commitments to overall
policy shifts which are women friendly
4. Look at broadening the gender specific case to the overall
business case for the company
For a detailed guide on the positive business outcomes of
gender diversity refer to The Business Case for Women:
Quantifying the Economic Value for Diversity by Council of
Women Leaders,
http://www.cwwl.org/media/BusinessCaseforWomen.pdf
Some directions from the WEPs that could be used while
building the business case
1. Establish company-wide goals and targets for gender
equality and include progress as a factor in managers’
performance reviews
2. Ensure that all policies are gender sensitive – identifying
factors that impact women and men differently – and that
corporate culture advances equality and inclusion
3. Invest in workplace policies and programmes that open
avenues for advancement of women at all levels and
across all business areas, and encourage women to enter
non-traditional job fields
4. Offer opportunities to promote the business case for
women’s empowerment and the positive impact of
inclusion for men as well as women
5. Ask business partners and peers to respect the
company’s commitment to advancing equality and
inclusion
6. Respect the dignity of women in all marketing and other
company materials
7. Lead by example: showcase company commitment to
gender equality and women’s empowerment
8. Make public the company policies and implementation
plan for promoting gender equality

W
omen’s empowerment and
gender equality is closely
linked with the reduction of
poverty and achievement of global
targets in meeting the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). For India
to achieve a virtuous growth path,
tackling poverty and reaching the
MDGs is crucial. Gender inequality is
a major obstruction in meeting these
goals. Businesses too, are recognising
that their non-financial performance
is interlinked to their financial
performance, and in turn have realised
that managing their social impacts
present risks, but also importantly
opportunities for business. It is in this
context that they are considering and
acknowledging the impact of gender
on their business as well.
The demand for women’s
empowerment within the business
context is increasing. Global market
expansion and economic growth has
increased the number of women in
the workforce. In India, women’s work
participation has grown from 19.7%
in 1981, 25.7% in 2001 to 32.2% in
2004-05.7
Informally, women are also
acknowledged as representing the
major bulk of the agricultural workforce
in the food producing regions of the
world, however, they are often the
lowest paid and work under the worst
conditions.
Today a much larger number
of young women have a higher
education status in comparison to
the previous generation, and in turn
have been entering the workforce
in larger numbers than ever before.
A study conducted by the Harvard
Business Review on the ‘Battle
for Female Talent in the Emerging
Markets’ observes that in spite of
the presence of many qualified and
ambitious women in the BRIC (Brazil,
Russia, India and China) countries
and the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
female talent is underleveraged in
emerging markets, suggesting - “…the
inducements to languish or leave reflect
both entrenched cultural perspectives
and modern complexities.’’8
Among
other issues, unfair discrimination
at the work place and care giving
responsibilities of women are some of
the reasons why women are pulled back
from the workforce. If they do manage to
stay in work once they have married
and have children, most stay in
mid-level jobs. The trend of placing
qualified young women to lower entry
positions in comparison to their male
counterparts with the same qualifications
is very much a reality.
Female employees tend to be
concentrated in entry or middle level
positions, that is, the more senior the
position, the lower the percentage of
women. Women occupy a very small
minority of the senior professional
managerial or leadership positions.9
While the India Gap Review Report
has shown 0% of women on company
boards or as CEOs, a 2010 study by
Mckinsey puts this at 5% in India10
.
There are other issues too, related
to forms of discrimination, problems
of sexual harassment, and in some
extreme cases even violence at the
workplace. Despite legislative measures
requiring men and women to have the
same pay for the same work in many
countries, unequal pay for equal work
7
Ministry of Women and Child, Handbook of Statistical Indicators for Women in India, Government of
India, 2007
8
Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Ripa Rashid, The Battle for Female Talent in Emerging Markets http://www.
persiangendernetwork.org/upload/HBR_Battle_4_Female_Talent_in_Emerging_Markets.pdf
9
India’s Country Profile in Corporate Gender Gap Report, 2010, P 56 and 57. Zahidi. S and Ibarra. H.
World Economic Forum. “The Corporate Gender Gap Report 2010.” http://www3.weforum.org/docs/
WEF_GenderGap_CorporateReport_2010.pdf
10
Mckinsey and Company. “Women at the Top of Corporations: Making it Happen.” http://www.
mckinsey.com/locations/swiss/news_publications/pdf/women_matter_2010_4.pdf.
11
Ibid.
12
Department of Economic and Social Affairs(DESA), The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics,
United Nations, New York, 2010 http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/Worldswomen/
WW_full%20report_color.pdf
done by women is a reality even in
the comparatively more advanced
economies of Western Europe.
Besides, women also carry the double
burden of unpaid work at home which
remains unrecognised in national
economies. Women by virtue of their
child bearing roles lose out on a whole
host of opportunities in the workplace
which are often modeled around ‘gender
stereotypes’. Over 57% of women
respondents in the survey conducted
by Mckinsey shared that women found
the double burden of work and domestic
responsibilities the biggest barrier .11
Assessing gender gaps in labour force
participation of women has shown that
the gaps are minimal in the twenties and
the widest gap is found in the 30-34 age
group upto 50-54 age group.12
The Women’s Empowerment Principles
therefore ask for a rebalancing of
the situation. They call for deliberate
policies to ensure that women are given
opportunities to enter into leadership
positions, for training and education
to improve their status in comparison
to men, have better work conditions
with ensured health, safety and well
being, and are free from discrimination.
It calls for institutions and companies
to become better advocates of
gender equality within their sphere of
influence, in their supply chains and in
communities. The interesting part is that
the WEPs are not restricted to women
alone but also include men in pushing
for such changes in the workplace,
marketplace and community.
WHY EMPOWER WOMEN?

Being gender aware starts with the language we use, the
interactions we have, and the choices we make. Given the fact
that gender stereotypes are entrenched deeply in our cultures,
we may not be conscious of acting out gender biases that
have been handed down to us through generations, through
numerous cultural codes and social attitudes.
You could start by asking yourself, ‘‘Do I follow gendered
roles?’ Many of us without realising it perform roles and
responsibilities that are ideally expected or socially prescribed
or imposed and may not be something we want to do. In the
same way, we also begin to build perceptions on others based
on these expectations. Instead of discussing whether we are
right or wrong, let’s suspend judgement and explore how our
behaviours and beliefs reinforce or challenge existing gender
norms in our society.
Decision making is an integral part of life for all of us.
Sometimes our decisions get mired in the gender stereotypes
we construct. These are also moments when we become
the most gender aware as we interrogate a complex mesh
of roles we play in our lives. Being gender aware raises
questions which require us to challenge conventional norms.
For example, as an employer we might decide not to employ
a woman of reproductive age assuming that she will need to
take maternity leave. This may or may not be the case, but
even so, and her taking time to have children might positively
affect the business (or not); but even so, the decision making
was informed by a gender stereotype.
In today’s business context, we increasingly need to have the
ability to occupy shared spaces, and be aware of diversity.
Struggles of being gender aware come in handy here. We also
see more women and men breaking the boundaries of gender
or defying stereotypes in their own ways. Are we able to deal
with such changes?
What are the working questions that I could start with for
a discussion on gender?
Inner Spaces Outer Faces Initiative Tool Kit prepared by
CARE contains simple tools and exercises for preliminary
discussions on gender, sexuality and gender and culture:
http://www.care.org/careswork/whatwedo/health/downloads/
isofi_toolkit.pdf
How is Women’s Empowerment connected to Business
and Human Rights?
Kathryn Dovey, Putting Gender on the Business Human
Rights Agenda.
http://www.realizingrights.org/pdf/Gender_and_Business_
and_HR_Scoping_Paper_Draft_for_circulation_June_2009.
pdf
What are some of the decisions we take related to WEPs
on a daily basis at the workplace? Try this Quiz.
Much more work is required to build a compass for individual
decisions that we take which have a direct impact on gender.
The following questions taken from a sample management
tool gives an idea of what elements these could combine.13
1. We should focus on Gender Equality because:
a. Employing women has become imperative for
lucrative business operations and employment
b. Women’s differential and traditional skills add a
competitive advantage to the company’s operations
c. We need to dispel norms in society which have
brought about inequality and barriers for women
and companies may also run into legal risks of
discrimination
We need to dispel norms in society which have brought
about inequality and barriers for women in society as a
whole and companies may also run into legal risks regarding
discrimination. Though it is true that women are bringing in
a competitive edge to business and are also a major section
of the consumer segment, gender equality essentially aims
at removing those barriers and norms which create unequal
impacts on men and women due to their gendered roles or
due to gender biases.
2. Gender Equal policies would promote:
a. Equal numbers of men and women
b. Equal opportunities for men and women
c. Introduction of child care and maternity benefits
d. Shift in organisational practices that are women
friendly
Making
IndividualGender Aware
Decisions
13
Rapid Learning Institute. “The Manager’s Guide to Preventing
Discrimination Lawsuits” www.rapidlearninginstitute.com

Gender Equal policies would involve a whole architecture
involving shifts in organisational policies and practice that are
women friendly. While introducing equal opportunity policies,
child care and maternity benefit services are important and
specific measures, but to do away with inequalities, practices
need to change so, results and benefits are realised.
3. True or false: To be on the safe side, you should treat
pregnant employees with more sensitivity and tact
than you do for other workers.
Employees should not be discriminated against because they
are pregnant. However, keeping in mind the health and safety
of pregnant employees is necessary and not discrimination.
These measures include making exceptions on particular
tasks a pregnant woman should not undertake because they
may pose a health risk; and providing areas to enable women
to breastfeed at work.
4. Which of the following is NOT one of the four common
pitfalls in dealing with pregnant employees and job
applicants?
a. The appearance of bias
b. Commenting on the fact that an employee is pregnant
c. Changing a pregnant employee’s job duties without
her consent
d. Denying a pregnant employee or applicant an
opportunity based on her pregnancy
Commenting on the fact that an employee is pregnant. It’s
okay to acknowledge that an employee is pregnant, as long
as you don’t take any actions that would affect their pay or
opportunities due to the pregnacy itself.
5. True or false: When interviewing a pregnant job
applicant, you should avoid discussing her pregnancy
unless she brings it up
True. The pregnancy must not affect her chances of being
employed by you.
6. The performance of an employee with new or
increased family responsibilities:
a. Probably will decline
b. Probably will stay the same
c. Probably will improve
d. Can’t and shouldn’t be predicted ahead of time
Can’t and shouldn’t be predicted ahead of time.
7. True or false: You can’t demote an employee solely
because of his/ her care giving responsibilities, but you
can postpone a promotion until you see if he or she is
up to the job.
False. The pregnancy must not affect her chances of being
employed by you.
What are the kind of questions I could ask on the gender
situation in my own company context?
An ILO Manual for Gender Audit Facilitators chalks out a
methodology of assessing the situation of gender within
different organizational contexts
International Labour Office. “A Manual For Gender Audit
Facilitators.”
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---
dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_093425.pdf
Is my company ready for a certification on gender
equality?
Do a self assessment on gender equality certification under
http://www.genderequalityproject.com/
Develop a WEP matrix for self assessment http://www.
humanrights-matrix.net/
Are there others talking about practical implementation?
GenderLink Best Practice Guidelines for Creating a Culture
of Gender Equality in the Private Sector http://www.workinfo.
com/free/Downloads/genderlink.htm
The Gender Equality Principles initiative is a groundbreaking
initiative that helps companies with practical solutions http://
www.genderprinciples.org/

1. The Global Gender Gap Report 2010 reveals that
India:
a. Is in the bottom half of the global rankings and holds
the 114th position out of 134 economies in
terms of the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) (2009).
b. Is in the four highest-ranking countries for gender
inequality
c. Is in 120th position
d. Is in the top 25 countries
India is in the bottom half of the global rankings and holds the
112th position out of 134 economies in terms of the Global
Gender Gap Index (GGGI2010). The four highest-ranking
countries –Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden –have closed a
little over 80% of their gender gaps, while the lowest ranking
country –Yemen –has closed only around 46% of its gender
gap. However, no country has as yet been able to close the
gender gap entirely.
2. Gender Gap trends in South Asia and BRIC
(Brazil, Russia, India, and China) show that:
a. Gender inequalities are improving over the years in
these countries
b. India is lagging behind
The South Asian countries continue to be ranked among
the bottom half in global assessments. A plotting of the GGI
(Gender Gap Index) shows that we are discussing gender
inequality in a context where the gap is closing and increasingly
so, though India is lagging behind. The following graphs show
the comparative trends in South Asia and BRIC countries.
The Reality for Women in India
India was placed in the bottom half of the global
rankings holding the 114th position out of 134
economies in terms of the Global Gender Gap Index
(GGGI) (2009).
India’s performance in the health and survival sub
index was particularly low where it ranked the lowest
among all the economies at 134th position.
However India is among the top 25 countries in terms
of the political empowerment sub index, particularly
because of the progressive laws related to women’s
participation in Panchayats.
Global Gender Gap Report 2010
2006 2007 2008 2010
0.52
0.54
0.56
0.58
0.6
0.62
0.64
0.66
0.68
0.07
0.72
GenderGapIndex
Year
Changes in Gender Gap-BRIC Countries
Brazil
Russia
India
China
Changes in Gender Gap-South Aisa
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
GenderGapIndex
Year
Bangladesh
Sri Lanka
Pakistan
India
Nepal
3. The biggest challenge for women and girls in
India is:
e. Political Empowerment of women
f. Economic Empowerment of women
g. Health and Survival of women
h. Education of women
Health and Survival. Though on the whole India is in the
bottom half of ranked countries in terms of gender gap,
India is in the lowest position in terms of health and survival
of women and girls.
4. The 0-6 age group sex ratio in India in 2011:
i. Has shown a marked improvement since
Independence
j. 927 girls to 1000 boys
k. 914 girls to 1000 boys
l. None of the above
The sex ratio at 0-6 age groups recorded in the 2011
census results saw a drop from 927 to 914 since 2001. This
is the lowest since India’s Independence in 1947, showing
an abnormal trend in birth patterns or acute discrimination
against girl children at birth.

Distribution of Women Workers 2004-05
Non-Agricultural
Sector(40 million)
Source: NSS 61st Round Survey on Employment and Unemployment
Agricultural
Sector(106.89)
5. The Corporate Gender Gap Report 2010, shows that global trends in maximum female employment is in:
a. Agriculture
b. Mining
c. Financial Services and Insurance
Percentage of Female Employment across Industry Type
Globally (Sample Size=100 Biggest Employers)
Financial Services and Insurance
Professional Services
Travel and Tourism
Media and Entertainment
Mining
Agriculture
Engineering and Construction
= 2 Percentage of Female Employment
Industry Type
60
42
18
22 22
PercentageofFemale
Employees
55
48
Financial services and insurance. The
Corporate Gender Gap Report 2010
comprehensively focused on the current
representation of female employees, in
some of the largest companies in the
world’s biggest economies.
6. The majority of women in the
workforce in India are engaged in:
a. Agriculture
b. Manufacturing
c. Services
The majority of women in the workforce in India are engaged
in agriculture. For Asia as a whole, 48.2 per cent of women
worked in the agricultural sector in 2009, compared to 38.9
per cent of men14
.
7. Broad trends suggest that majority of the workforce
in India is part of the
a. Unorganised sector or are informal workers
b. About 72% of women and 68.4% of men in the
workforce are informal workers
c. Women are heavily concentrated in those sectors
which are more informal in terms of work conditions
d. All of the above
All of the above. A large number of women have shifted
from family workers into income earners but this has mainly
been in casual, home-based work in India. Interestingly the
trend has been very different in Bangladesh which has seen
relatively more women assuming the role of factory workers.
A large number of women specifically in the manufacturing
sector in Asia indicate the inflow of a female workforce in
labour intensive manufacturing where global supply chains
have preferred to hire women. Manufacturing is the second
industry group after agriculture which has drawn a lot of
women, most of these are in labour intensive manufacturing
industries and usually as casual, temporary, contract workers
and home-based workers. Studies have found that women as
14
I Asian Development Bank and Indian Labour Organisation. ““Rebalancing for
Gender Equality, Women’s Labour Markets in South Asia.” http://www.adb.org/
documents/reports/women-labor-markets/women-labor-markets.pdf

a ‘buffer workforce’ for global supply chains to accommodate
just-in-time ordering, fluctuations in orders and prices, and stiff
competition among suppliers, while a smaller core of regular,
permanent workers (male or more highly educated women)
ensure quality and stability.’15
Studies on employment status in the labour market in Asia
reflecting working conditions and the arrangements for
work show less than a third of male and female workers are
engaged in regular wage and salaried employment in Asia
which is a strong indication of weak labour market institutions
and a large informal economy. It also indicates that non-paid
work in a family establishment is very much a female domain
while men dominate the own-account (self employment with
no employees) and employer statuses. Only one% of all
women workers in Asia were running their own business with
paid employees; the entrepreneurial capabilities of Asian
women are far from being tapped.16
The private sector employs about 41.77 percent women
while the public sector employs 58.23% are in public sector
and 41.77% are in the private sector. Looking specifically at
senior positions in government for instance shows that only
7.53 percent women are engaged as Central Government
employees.17
,clearly showing that there is a drop in the
percentage of women as we move to better and more
permanent and secure jobs with higher demands on decision
making.
8. The Corporate Gender Gap Report 2010 showed that
maximum percentage of female employees were
found in:
a. India
b. United States of America
c. Finland
United States. India has the lowest percentage of female
employees (23%), followed by Japan (24%), Turkey (26%)
and Austria (29%). The United States (52%), Spain (48%),
Canada (46%) and Finland (44%) display the highest
percentage of total female employees from the sample.
Across the entire sample, 2% of companies still do not
measure this information.
9. The Corporate Gender Gap Report 2010 establishes
that:
a. Female employees tend to be concentrated in entry or
middle level positions
b. In senior positions
c. In leadership positions and entry positions
Female employees tend to be concentrated in entry or middle
level positions, that is, the more senior the position, the lower
the percentage of women. A major exception to this trend
is Norway, due to a government regulation that mandated
Source: E- Atlas on Gender, World Bank,
http://www.app.collinsindicate.com/worldbankatlas-gender/en
a minimum of 40% reservation for women on the boards of
public companies. This shows that legislative action may be
useful on the issue.
10. In high income countries in Europe, gender pay gap:
e. Does not exist
f. Exists but is usually only about 10%
g. Is more than 25%
The E Atlas prepared by the World Bank cites gender pay
gaps in the private sector only in the European countries,
highlighting the need for greater reporting of information at
the global level. The following map clearly establishes that a
gender pay gap of more than 25 percent in the private sector
exists even in high income countries such as Europe.
E-Atlas on Gender, World Bank, http://www.app.
collinsindicate.com/worldbankatlas-gender/en
12. The India Gap Review Report, surveying 100 of the
biggest employers in India showed that:
a. None of the companies surveyed had a female CEO
b. Had 60 percent female employees
c. Were tracking wage differentials
None of the above. Only 10% of the companies that
responded (59% responded) had 50% or more female
employees and a majority (40%) had female employees under
10%. None of the companies surveyed had female CEOs.
Only 4% of the companies monitored or tracked wage gaps
or differentials between male and female employees. General
norms and cultural practices, lack of work-life balance policies
and lack of flexible work solutions were identified as the most
problematic barriers for women to rise to senior leadership
positions in the company.
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid
17
Ministry of Women and Child, Handbook of Statistical Indicators for Women in
India, Government of India, 2007

Integratingthe
WomenEmpowermentPrinciples
intoBusinessPractices
Internal Spaces
Companies usually report the translation of gender equal policies through gender specific
policies adopted by them which include maternity leave and benefits, child care facilities for
working mothers, grievance and complaint systems in case of harassment at the workplace etc.
The WEPs propagate a set of holistic processes and cultural shifts that need to be initiated while
adopting the same. The following are some examples of how work may be initiated around the
WEPs.
A. Ensuring visible CEO commitment:
For organisations to take the first step in internalisation a visible commitment needs to be made
by the leadership in organisations.
Some visible actions by high level corporate leaders on gender equality:
1. Signing the CEO Statement on Women Empowerment Principles
2. Ensuring inclusion and discussion of the principles in different internal and external
platforms especially at the corporate leadership level
3. Presence in Learning Networks and Forums on the issue

I have been a leader in this Company
for the last twenty years, however we
are unable to find leaders who keenly
apply and take forward strategies
which incorporate Gender Equality.
We have to train the new leaders
every time they come on board.
We have a lot of women leaders in
our Company. In fact the majority in
the top rung of management includes
women. The middle management
however is mostly made up of men
and lower management of women
and young men. I’m not sure if gender
parity alone ensures a gender equal
environment.
Statistics show that females are
outpacing males at almost every level
during their education. Yet, women drop
off the career path in their early 30s in
startling numbers. The result is that only
about 15-18% of leadership roles are
held by women. Why are large numbers
of women not being able to make it to
the top of the leadership pyramid?
Company Y faced a serious
discrimination law suit from its
association of workers filed by
middle and senior management
women workers who found
discrimination in promotion.
What systems do you think were
missing in the Company?
Introducing quotas in leadership
may not help as this can become
tokenistic. Genuine attempts need
to be made on nurturing women’s
leadership. Furthermore women
in leadership need to spend more
time with young women workers
socially mentoring them and
sharing their stories of how they
overcame the obstacles.
Some
perceptions
are deeply
rooted in
the gender
culture of
organisations,
to initiate
change; the
first step is to
understand
these
perceptions
and what they
indicate.
Company A has very few
women employees. It also
has no women in leadership
positions. Since the Company
comprises predominantly men
in the first place, is there really a
need to talk about gender?
B. Diagnosing the Problem:

Leadership focused/
Market oriented
Example of a matrix that may be used to assess stage of change
Pro-Egalitarian
Gender
specific/Worker
oriented
Non-Interventionist
C. Assess the stage of change needed in the company?
In some companies the organic culture may have emerged to be more gender equal. Changes
may have been initiated or the company may be in the mid stage of its gender equality
strategies. In both these cases less intense programmes are needed. Sometimes companies
may be trying out certain gender specific strategies and may still be in the process of bringing in
change across levels. This may mean an inclusion of women’s leadership at the board level but
a slow transition at other levels. Thus it is crucial to identify which stage of gender change the
organisation is at, and how deeply embedded the gender policies are.
What are some of the Gender Audit Methodologies that can be used for this?
A ILO Manual for Gender Audit Facilitators chalks out a methodology of assessing the situation
of gender within different organisational contexts.
International Labour Office. “A Manual For Gender Audit Facilitators.” 2007. http://www.ilo.org/
wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_093425.pdf
Can I develop some diagnostic tools based on the WEPs?
The WEPs may be used creatively to develop assessment and diagnostic tools to plot the stages
a company is in. An example is given below.
• Company D
• Company C
• Company A
• Company F
• Company B
WEP 1 and 2:
Promotes
leadership/ Treats
all men and women
fairly at work
WEP 3 & 4:
Health and safety
all men and women/
Promote Education
training and professional
development of all men
and women workers

Identifying Barriers
It is important to identify and build measures
around each barrier. This is an example of
achieving barriers to women’s leadership.
Mckinsey and Company identifies some of
these as:
1. The double burden syndrome where
women are burdened with duties at home
and in the workplace
2. Lack of CEO commitment
3. Lack of a proper promotion and hiring
system
4. Women’s own perception of themselves
5. Lack of role models and demonstrable
examples building a case for change in
attitudes
6. Tendency of women to lower their
ambitions in comparison to men
7. Many women drop out voluntarily from
the workforce
• Deal with Barriers with Diversity
Measures: The report gives 13 diversity
measures that can be adopted by
companies to ensure women’s leadership
which entail flexible work options, skill
building, social mentoring, opportunities
to women for networking to name a few
and also places a business case for
leadership.
Source: Mckinsey and Company. “Women at
the Top of Corporations: Making it Happen.”
http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/swiss/news_
publications/pdf/women_matter_2010_4.pdf
The matrix is an illustrated example of how the first four principles may be
plotted to understand the gender climate in a company. Company A which
adopts all the four principles is moving towards a pro egalitarian climate in
comparison to Company E which is yet to bring in any changes on either of
the policies. Company C and F are bringing in leadership oriented changes
while Company B is closer to bringing in worker oriented policies. The sub
criteria of each of the principles could be developed for tracking,plotting and
assessing what directions companies need to take to move towards a pro-
egalitarian direction.
D. Address Knowledge Gaps.
Some problems reflect a lack of systems and a lack of putting systems
into practice. Often companies simply lack the knowledge and skills to
address gender issues. It is crucial to build in the case for relevance here.
The relevance could flow from:
a. National and international legal frameworks (discussion on worker and
anti-discrimination laws)
b. Business imperatives (or the economic argument)
c. Mapping of risks
d. Presence and participation in learning networks and forums and learning
from peers
e. Measuring, tracking data and maintaining reporting standards
f. Creating spaces for dialogue
g. Locating the advantages: e.g. Companies have tried to locate the
different values that women bring in to leadership and also assess the
kind of issues or barriers that impact women
h. Assess and deal with barriers
Having women in leadership positions is not enough and does not remove
the everyday discrimination that women face due to gender inequality.
Besides, women leaders have not been able to always change gender
dynamics or hierarchies and instead been co-opted into the culture. The
real reason behind gender equality is fundamentally related to upholding
‘masculine’ traits over ‘feminine’ traits as superior. As a result, leadership
styles, ways of working and organisational contexts are continuously built
around values of masculine superiority which need to be countered to ensure
equal gender relations.
What are the diverse perspectives on women’s leadership?
Leadership Development Tools, Rutgers http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~cwgl/wgli/resources.html#LeadershipDevelopmentTools
Rao Aruna and Kelleher David. Leadership For Social Transformation: Some Ideas and Questions on Institutions and Feminist
Leadership, Gender and Development, Vol. 8, No. 3, November 2000..
Rao Aruna and Kelleher David. Unravelling Institutionalized Gender Inequality. Gender at Work Occasional Paper, 2008 www.
genderatwork.org/learning
Mckinsey and Company. “Female Leadership a Competitive Edge for the Future” http://www.mckinsey.de/downloads/
publikation/women_matter/Women_Matter_2_brochure.pdf
Batliwala Srilatha. CREA. “Feminist leadership for Social Transformation, Clearing the Conceptual Cloud.” http://web.
creaworld.org/files/f1.pdf
What are some creative ways and policies to deal with work-life balance?
Hewllette and Bucklace. Off Ramps and On Ramps, Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success, Harvard Business
School Press, 2007

Some questions that CARE’s GED
Benchmarking Survey asked were:
1. How are organisations defining diversity?
2. How far have diversity initiatives adopted
by organisations led to an increase in
representation of those from minority
groups? How are these explained to staff?
3. The break up of gender and ethnic
backgrounds of senior management
positions in offices in the US
4. How are decision making processes
designed to include perspectives of diverse
and multi level staff?
5. How often and for whom do organisations
offer capacity building to staff?
6. How well are these diversity initiatives
standardised across the organisation?
7. Whether roles focusing on gender and
diversity exist in the organisation.
E. Introduce a diversity strategy:
Some companies have opted for a broad gender equity
and diversity strategy for organisations. As mentioned in
the earlier section, diversity strategies need an emphasis
on the softer dimensions as well. Research results show
that companies with a Gender Equity Strategy in their
list of priorities managed to have more women in senior
positions.18
Companies have increasingly been adopting diversity
strategies into their core business strategies. Such
inclusive policies have also given them a diversity edge.
A global management consulting firm made a case for
this through a fact-based study on a range of experiences
of different companies, establishing that gender diversity
is a corporate performance driver. While the study could
not locate causal links, it identified a direct correlation
between the presence of women in decision making
positions on boards with better organisational and
financial performance. It observed that companies with
three or more women in the top management scored
higher for each organisational dimension than companies
with no women on top. These organisational dimensions
included work environment values, direction, coordination
and control, external orientation, motivation, capability,
accountability and innovation. Companies with a higher
proportion of women in their top management have a
higher financial performance. It concludes that some of
the gender diversity best practices include:
• Tracking inclusion of women and benefits to women
in recruitments, promotions, pay levels, turnovers,
training, and satisfaction levels
• Supportive measures which include work time
flexibility and career flexibility for women
• Adoption of HR management processes that ensure
tracking of recruitment, neutrality in appraisal systems,
inclusion of women in promotion shortlists etc
• Support women’s leadership through mentoring,
coaching and training and role models
CARE USA carried out a Benchmarking Survey on
GED practices in other companies and not for profits.
The survey provided several lessons on the various
diversity programmes pursued by for-profit and not-for-
profit organisations. The process led to the development
of CARE’s own Gender Equity and Diversity (GED)
strategy which is now being translated across CARE’s
global network. CARE affirmed the business case
for a Gender Equity and Diversity framework and the
connection with its mission and goals in the strategy.
The strategy places emphasis on representation, trust
learning and accountability- trust is a vital ‘soft’ side to
increasing gender equity and diversity in an organisation
because increased levels of trust indicate improvements
in relationships and engagement of employees. Though
tangible measures are important, the GED strategy
emphasises the need to focus on the deeper intangible
issues affecting organisations or institutional environments.
CARE’s strategy had some important processes through
which change has been initiated in the organisation:
1. The formation of a collaboration and learning network or
forum
2. Linking the gender equality goal with the vision and
mission of the organisation
3. Introducing discrimination proof interview systems
that relate to how and where jobs are advertised.
Women should be able to access them, using taglines
which encourage women to apply, and including
commitments to gender equity and diversity within job
descriptions, use of gender and ethnicity blinding during
short listing of candidates so all biases are removed,
reducing qualification levels and increasing the value
of competencies so those from minority communities
who have not been able to go through higher education
may be able to apply, and using demonstrative
techniques and alternative methods to interviews in the
recruiting process which test for the demonstration of
competencies.19
18
Mckinsey and Company. “Women at the Top of Corporations: Making it
Happen.” http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/swiss/news_publications/pdf/
women_matter_2010_4.pdf
19
Evans Christina, Glover Judith, Guerrier Yvonne and Wilson Cornelia.
“Implementing Diversity Policies Guiding Principles (in science, technology
and engineering fields).” http://www.equalitec.com/downloads/Implementing_
Diversity_Policies-Guiding_Principles.pdf

Gender Change Agents: Can you spot them
and support them?
The Swedish International Development
Agency identified different roles for
gender agents:
The Lone Pioneer: Stigmatised. Needs
support base. Primary support comes from
outside.
The Fighter: Charismatic, fast moving risk
taker. Not afraid of conflict. Has a small
internal support base.
The Bureaucratic Entrepreneur: Analyses
institutional opportunities and obstacles
The Player: Plays the organisation.
Recognises opportunities. Negotiates and is
diplomatic.
The Catalyst: Rather than implementing,
seeks to help others implement.
Source: Vinnov. Innovations & Gender.
“I am an Asian who wears the headdress; I know
what it’s like to be in the minority on boards.
I believe that being a minority in a position of
importance is a privilege, and not a burden.”
Jaspal Bindra, Executive and Group Member of
the Board of Standard Chartered PLC, Hong Kong
F. Engage Men in Gender Initiatives
Men have a critical role to play as gender change agents. Catalyst,
in its study titled ‘Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives’, found
that men who tended to defy the masculine norms within the
organisation grew aware of gender biases. For instance, men who
had enhanced care giving responsibilities in the family and sought
more time off from work or chose more flexible work-life options,
received a greater backlash from male colleagues in the workplace.
These are important circumstances or experiences where men grow
aware of gender biases and these are motivations that lead men to
support initiatives on gender equality and specific techniques and
practices to enlist men’s support. Volvo’s Walk the Talk initiative
and Ernst and Young’s Cultivating Men as Allies are some initiatives
involving men in the inclusive agenda.20
What are some of the resources available on engaging Men in
Gender Initiatives?
• Catalyst. “Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives: What Change
Agents Need to Know”. http://www.catalyst.org/file/283/mdc-
web.pdf
• Catalyst. “ Actions Men Take.” http://catalyst.org/etc/Virtual_
Roundtable_PDFs/Actions_Men_Can_Take_Final_120910.pdf
Actions Men Take, Catalyst
• Guy Laurence Marie and others. “FOCUS: Women on Boards,
Conversations with Male Director, International Finance
Corporation and Global Corporate Governance Forum.” http://
www.ifc.org/ifcext/cgf.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/Focus9/$FILE/
Focus9_Women_on_Boards.pdf
G. Address biases in policy making
A crucial part of the ‘women empowerment’ agenda would be
to look at how gender equality policies flow down to the last
woman in the value chain. It is this that is crucially embedded in
the need for high corporate leadership towards gender equality.
While a lot of innovative work life policy options, care giving and
social security measures are adopted by companies, these have
been mainly clustered around manager positions. The challenge
is to find path breaking initiatives along the same lines across
levels. Removing barriers would also mean mapping the different
contexts of ‘care giving roles and responsibilities’ and building in
inclusive policies customised for each situation.
20
Catalyst. “Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives: What Change Agents Need to Know”. http://www.
catalyst.org/file/283/mdc-web.pdf

What are the areas for work on WEPs in this case study?
My name is Moni and I am 35 years old. I am married and have a 15 year old son. After the death of my father, and in need
of money to feed my family, I was forced to leave school and work at Giant Garments Ltd. I was only 14 years old at the
time. I am still currently working here as a sewing machine operator. I am paid on average BDT 4059 per month (59 USD)
which is determined by my production capacity. When I started at the factory my salary was only BDT 1650 per month (24
USD). I am now a senior operator. I work 8 hours per day on quieter months but when there are more orders, I work 12
to 18 hour shifts. In total, including weekends and days of leave, I work 11 months of the year. I am a permanent laborer
however the company has yet to issue me with an appointment letter. My entire salary goes towards feeding and raising my
family. However, the amount I earn does not cover all of my monthly expenses.
On an average day I wake up at 5:00am as I need to cook for my family, fetch water, shower, and do laundry. I leave for
work at 7:00am. From 1:00-2:00pm I have lunch, which I bring from home. After work I make my way to the shops to buy
vegetables, rice to cook for dinner.and help my sone with his homework. The women at my factory are entitled maternity
leave but I couldn’t enjoy this leave myself. Workers are also entitled to sick leave but this right is also not respected most of
time. Most the time workers are not treated with respect and the workload is unfair. I was discriminated against when I tried
to form a union with my coworkers. Management mentally harassed me by giving me more production loads than I could
handle. I was verbally harassed at the time of my pregnancy and have witnessed many workers being harassed in a similar
manner. During the first four months of my pregnancy, management would shout at me for needing to use the bathroom.
They used obscene language and threatened to fire me.
Women in my factory do not have the same opportunity for promotion as men do. The only promotion I have been offered
in 16 years was as an incentive to not form a trade union, which I turned down. I have managed to successfully form a
registered union with my coworkers. In the process many workers were laid off and many had to find other factories to work
for in order to survive. Every day I fight for union rights and legal rights in the workplace. However, the constant fear that the
factory will be shut down by the company, still haunts me.
Since the global economic crisis, my factory has had fewer orders and thus less work hours. However, the result is late pay
and I am often left fighting for my salary at the end of every month. Like me, many other women in my factory are treated
without dignity. If I could make a change I would establish individual and union/collective bargaining rights and urge buyers
and international workers rights groups to keep orders coming into the factory so that we may stay out of fear of the factory
closing down.21
Some steps to avoid class or caste biases are:
1. Include representation from all levels in policy formulation
2. Include special voices from caste, religion, and gender backgrounds
3. Build customised frameworks for application of the policy for each context or setting e.g. in the office, factory setting,
community outreach and supply chain
4. Create spaces for dialogue and discussion on engagements in the workplace at different levels
5. Place clear operational guidelines for the policy for each context or setting and level of decision making
21
www.labourrights.org, http://www.laborrights.org/rights-for-working-women/
moni-bangladeshi-mother-poor-wages-and-harassment-in-the-workplace

There are a whole host of initiatives that need to be taken
on by companies to ensure that WEPs are implemented
within their spheres of influence. This not only includes
those engaged with the supply chain but also members
of the communities within their spheres of influence.
Companies need to take up initiatives related to health and
safety, women’s leadership, education and training. This
section provides some examples of how to incorporate
the WEPs through internal policies and practically through
creative initiatives with women in the supply chain or in the
community.
A. Health programmes at the Workplace: Highlighting
Health and Safety programmes which have helped
raise the productivity levels of workers in factories, the
HerProject builds a case to work with health programmes
in the workplace. Garment and sportswear companies
hiring women in India and supplying goods to global
markets have begun to finance and invest in workplace
health programmes. They see a key benefit in this as they
recognise that improvements in the health and well being
of workers leads to an increase in productivity. Columbia
Sportswear and Levis Strauss Co. have begun to invest in
women’s workplace health programmes in partnership with
NGOs. The programme reports a reduced absenteeism
and attrition in workers after the intervention. Some key
processes involved here were:
1. Changing the mindsets of factory managers on health
issues and the intervention programme
2. Making time within the production processes for sessions
at factory clinics
3. Encouraging leadership and peer education among the
women workers on health issues
In Spheres of
Influence
B. Promote Education and Training for overall
empowerment. There have been several small and large
collaborative initiatives which companies may learn from in
order to promote education and training of women within
the business context. Most businesses have realised that in
order to thrive within their areas of operation they also need
to work in contexts which comprise of economically vibrant
communities. Cargill an international producer and marketer
of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and
services specifically specialised in oil seeds, animal nutrition
etc has initiated a collaborative initiative with CARE called
K-LEAP (Kutch Learning Education and Advancement Project)
which is a partnership initiative between CARE and Cargill
in the dry regions of Kutch which is also within Cargill’s area
of operation. The overarching goal of K-LEAP is to improve
the quality of life of the most vulnerable rural families in the
Kutch district in Gujarat. Aimed at integrating economic and
educational opportunities the K-LEAP collaboration looks to
include economic development for rural families in Gujarat for
a period of five years. It hopes to address the intergeneration
cycle of extreme poverty, through a multi-pronged strategy
to bring in economic sustainability to the older generation
and education to younger generation. This strategy is aimed
at improvement in quality of life of extremely disadvantaged
communities, through improved livelihood options and
enhanced access to quality, and equitable education.The
initiative aims at reaching 9000 households in 205 villages to
enable them to gain from income generating opportunities. In
addition the project seeks to improve quality and accessibility
of education for 43, 518 children at 168 primary schools
across the Kutch district.

Younger GenerationOlder Generation
Enhancing Women’s role in
Entrepreneurship
Building Economically Vibrant Communities
The Multi-Pronged Strategy of K-LEAP: A CARGILL CARE COLLABORATION
Milestones for Economic Development
• Formation of woman
collectives of savings and
credit groups
• Cluster formation 7
strengthening
• Provison of revoling loan
fund
• Bank linkages
• Road map for Federation
Building
• Formation of Agriculture
group
• Land Based planning
• Agriculture input supply
• Improved agriculture
implements
• Soil and water testing
• salinity pervention
• SWC measures
• Two products as
demonstration model
• Formation of animals
husbandn groups
• Increasing productivity
-throught improving the
quality of breed
• Fodder Bank/ grass plot
• Cattle feed center
• Animal Health-
vaccination
• Market linkages for dairy
Dairy as
Sub sector
vValue chain
Financial
Access
Value
chain in
Agriculture
Milk Producers’
group company
Community Based
Federations
Agriculture
Service Centers
Institutionalization- Community based Micro Finance as fulcrum
Education
Initiatives with
Formal Schools: On
site support given to
government run primary
schools focused on
quality education and
reduction of gender
disparity
Alternative non
traditional learning
centres : for adolescent
girls who are drop
outs or out of school
providing life skills,
functional literacy,
social learning and
analytical skills
Occupational and
women collectives:
These collectives are
also encouraged to
participate in promoting
the value of education

The story of Deepa Ben shows how platforms may be created to open opportunities for women and girls through different
programmes and initiatives. Deepa Ben, who is 52 years old, belongs to a landless community in Abdara block, Kutch
district in Gujarat. Though she was very good at traditional craft work, she had not been able to find an adequate platform
to use her skills to make a living. She joined the Ashapura women’s group under the Cargill supported CARE K-LEAP
project. CARE facilitators recognising her skills provided her with training in embroidery work where she soon became
a master trainer for other women in her community. Today, she is responsible for training 50 women, helping them gain
economic independence. Having discovered an avenue of opportunities for her latent skills and leadership potential,
Deepa Ben brims with confidence as her status in her community and family has substantially improved.
The
K-LEAP
Programmee
The K-LEAP programme has also empowered women
members of self-help groups to generate viable economic
assets for themselves. Tejbai, 60 years old, belonged to
the lowest caste strata of Charodopadi Moti village and
had no means of getting her family out of the endemic
poverty. She lacked financial access, technical guidance
and other required skills that would enable her to
increase her families assets.
The K-LEAP programme provided a breakthrough in
terms of enhancing her family’s asset ownership. The
family, being solely dependent on agriculture, were in
penury given the erratic and unpredictable monsoons
in Kutch. Harvesting one crop a year hardly fetched
the family more than INR 3500-4000 per month, hardly
enough to sustain a family of 8 members. Intense
community mobilisation activity of CARE under K-LEAP
microfinance programme for women provided Tejbai
who was a member of the group Chamunda Ma
Mahila Bachat Mandal, had the courage to take up
entrepreneurial activity to uplift her socio-economic
status.
After a lot of brain-storming and planning, Tejbai set
up a flour mill under the K-LEAP programme. As the
majority of people in her community consumed flour
based food, she felt this business would create local
demands. Tejbai received the amount of INR 36,000 as
loan from the group to establish a flour mill in the village.
Today Tejbai is looking after the business along with her
sons’ support. She is now the proud owner of an income
generating asset in the form of a mill. Tejbai informs
that this enterprise is bringing an additional income of
INR 3,000 to INR 4000 per month to her family and has
considerably improved the economic status of her family.
Her story reinforces the effectiveness of removal of credit
and lending barriers faced by disadvantaged women.

Making a Regular Income:
Banumathi at the Cashew
Processing Unit
Banumathi used to work tirelessly each
day to make ends meet as her husband
was bedridden and unable to work. In
addition to household expenses, she
also needed money for his medicines.
Her sons contributed to household
income by working as laborers in the
construction and poultry industries but
it still left her as the main breadwinner
of the family. She also worked as an
agricultural laborer and earned about
INR 80 a day. But this amount was
irregular. She spent her days feeling
upset and defeated. Then one day,
Banumathi heard about a cashew
processing unit nearby, which was
owned and operated by women like her.
It was a turning point in her life.
Soon after, she joined a self-help group
and saved INR 50every month along
with her 12 sisters. The facilitator at
the learning center informed them
about cashew processing and that
learning new skills could improve
their livelihoods. Banumathi decided
to go on an exposure trip to Panruti
to see what this was all about. She
found it interesting and attended 10
days of skill training at the ‘Samiyam’
cashew processing center in Puthur,
3 kilometers away from her village.
She was able to begin working there
immediately and is now earning a
steady income. An excited Banumathi
adds, “I have skills in cutting, peeling
and grading cashew nuts. Peeling gives
me an income of INR 50 rupees per
day if I peel 5 tokens worth of kernels.
I expect my income to increase as I
improve my skill and efficiency.”

Women acquire
increased skills and
leadership capacities
to manage women-
owned cashew
enterprises
A Wal-Mart-CARE partnership initiative
has been enabling women to derive
greater benefits for themselves and
their families in the two disaster-prone
districts (Cuddalore and Nagapattinam)
of Tamil Nadu by facilitating the process
of creating competitive cashew cluster
initiatives adhering to best industry
standards with active participation of
women across the value chain.
X X =
Change in
gendered
segmentation of the
value chain with
active participation
and recognition of
women as key actors
along the chain
Competitive
cashew
cluster adhering to
best industry
standards with
active participation
of women across the
value chain
Standards on fair
employment, safety,
hygiene, energy and
environment
adopted in cashew
cluster enabling
women participation
Support service providers
National Retail Market International Market
Small Processors Large Processors
Bakers/ Hotels Exporters
Local
Retailers
Wholesale
traders
Home-based
workers
Aggregators
Collection agents
Cultivators
Commission agents
Importers
C. Promote Clusters of Small
Women’s Enterprises through
partnerships
• Building skills to negotiate better
and change the structural relations
they face at home, the market and
the value chain
• Working with the family of women
cashew processors
• Working closely with men in the
households of these women
and in the value chain to ensure
that there is enough space and
encouragement for women to take
up new roles within the value chain
• Focusing on the other aspects of
women’s empowerment
The project targeted the small
processors segment as the entry
point in the cashew value chain as it
traditionally involved women.
After two years of intervention, the
project is looking at scalability and
sustainability in improving exchange
relations for the women in the network
of trading at Panruti which is the hub
of the cashew trade .The approach
emphasises:

D. Locate potentials for Women’s
Empowerment in the Community
If companies are able to locate the
potentials and changing dynamics
in communities, they can bring in
path breaking initiatives on women’s
empowerment within their spheres of
influence. This means identifying the
journeys of women, their difficulties and
their enterprise in overcoming these
difficulties and locating the various
ways in which a company’s initiatives
could assist in their road to individual
empowerment. The following case study
highlights how a company’s work in
promotion of women’s micro-enterprise
can also work hand in hand with the
dynamics related to their empowerment.
A Positive Influence for Women’s
Leadership: Wal-Mart in Tamil Nadu
In the coastal areas of the South of
India, the traditional Panchayat system
controls the social decisions of local
communities. However, the system
excludes the involvement of women,
depriving them of the opportunity to
participate in decision making processes
or distribution of benefits. As a result,
women-headed households are the
worst affected as they are automatically
isolated and forced to live without
assistance from the local community.
One such household was Ms. Selvi’s.
After her husband’s death five years
ago, 38 year old Ms. Selvi left his family
and returned to live with her mother and
brother at Velankanni in Nagapattinam
district of Tamil Nadu. Keen on resuming
a normal life and becoming economically
independent she started a small eatery
at Velankanni beach where she sold
fried fish to tourists. She nurtured
a desire to help other widowed or
impoverished women like her who were
struggling to improve their livelihood This
phase in Ms. Selvi’s life coincided with
the beginning of Wal-Mart’s interventions
in partnership with CARE in Tamil Nadu
that were aimed at supporting vulnerable
women in fishing communities. The
interventions mobilised women, provided
financial assistance to strengthen their
livelihoods and established a federation
to build social support systems. The
federation gave women a variety of
community-based experiences which
include starting collective enterprises,
accessing financial services and
improving the social and structural
conditions which are detrimental to
their growth. Ms. Selvi was enrolled as
a member and was promoted as the
animator of the group because of her
active participation in group activities.
Several such groups were merged to
form a Vidivelli (meaning morning star in
Tamil) federation and she was elected
as the president in charge of managing
the cashew processing unit.
Today, the federation has 753 members
who manage a Cashew Processing
Unit in Nagapattinam district. The
federation provides regular employment
opportunities to poor marginalised
women. Ms. Selvi plays an important
role in enlightening members of the
federation about the importance of
starting regular income guaranteeing
activities to support women headed
households as they have no other option
to increase their household income.
She encourages members to set up
satellite centers (supporting units for the
main cashew processing centre) in their
villages to decentralise the production
processes. Now, four such centers
have been established to help members
process cashews in their own villages
and market their produce through the
centralised unit. This arrangement helps
women save time and travel expenditure
besides giving adequate attention to the
family.
E. Bring in policies to ensure that
the WEPs are implemented by
your company in their spheres of
influence:
Policy related initiatives may be
brought in to ensure that the WEPs
are implemented by companies when
engaging within their spheres of
influence. Some of the strategies could
include:
What are the strategies to assess
gender practices of vendors and
business partners?
• The Gender Equality Principles
Initiative has developed a detailed
checklist of possible ways to
begin assessing gender practices
in the supply chain. Explore its
indicators on gender assessment
for Business, Supply Chain and
Marketing Practices. Source: http://
www.genderprinciples.org/assess.
php?elem=55
• Some companies have a supplier
‘diversity and inclusion’ policy,
targetedat minority and women
entrepreneurs. For instance
Accenture aims at targeting
minority owned and women owned
businesses. Accenture declares
“Helping small, women-owned and
minority-owned companies transform
into high performance businesses
is the cornerstone of what we do.”
http://www.accenture.com/us-en/
company/citizenship/pages/making-
supplier-diversity-priority.aspx
• A UK-based initiative, Enterprise
for Coalition for All, has prepared a
document on the various guidelines
on how to target business support
to disadvantaged sections. For
the report look up: http://www.
genderprinciples.org/resource_files/
EnterpriseforAllCoalitionReportFinal.
pdf

How can companies build in internal and
public accountability on the WEPs?
Companies are currently measuring and
reporting different indicators dependent on
subjective priorities within the organisation.
Key resources to develop reporting standards
are:
• The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is
an international NGO and collaborating
centre of the United Nations Environment
Programme that has developed the
world’s most widely used framework
for sustainability reporting. This
sustainability reporting framework sets
out the Principles and indicators that
organisations can use to measure and
report their economic, environmental and
social performance. The third generation
of this framework, launched in 2006,
is called the GRI G3 Guidelines and is
available online as a free public good.
http://wikigender.org/index.php/The_
Global_Reporting_Initiative
http://www.globalreporting.org/
LearningAndSupport/GRIPublications/
ResearchPublications and a framework
http://www.globalreporting.
org/ReportingFramework/
ReportingFrameworkDownloads/
• GENDER EQUALITY PROJECT gives an
idea for self assessment for certification
http://www.genderequalityproject.com/
• Nike has some elaborate methods to look
at Health and Safety in its environment
and a detailed transparent profile of
workers in factories: Look up: http://www.
nikebiz.com/crreport/content/workers-
and-factories

By highlighting some practical examples and ways of ensuring
women’s empowerment within the workplace, marketplace and
community, this Primer is intended to give a deeper perspective on
the WEPs, and to initiate a grounded discussion within our own
contexts. The goal of the guide was not to provide ready-made
solutions but rather food for thought for those interested in advancing
the WEPs. It begins to deconstruct and understand what translating
the WEPs within our contexts would mean and hopes that this process
would be taken up by companies within their own contexts. It also
envisages encouraging a sustained commitment towards implementing
the WEPs and fostering committed work around gender equality
in the business context and acting as a support for recognised or
unrecognised gender change agents.
At this starting point we intend that this work assists in initiating a
debate around the WEPs within teams, organisations, unions and
among collaboration networks. The examples and data bring into
focus the gaps in available structures, measuring and reporting, and
documentation on the issue. The reflections on past experiences and
initiatives, around working on women’s empowerment in the business
context, hopes to facilitate further discussion. It does not claim to
be a sole authority on how the WEPs may be effectual in different
settings, but advocates for more discussions, translated commitment
and building of opportunities for collaboration and action on the WEPs
in future. Businesses must start working together to strengthen their
commitment to the WEPs and improve the quality of life for women
and girls in India.
Conclusion
Abbreviations
GCN Global Compact Network
WEPs Women’s Empowerment Principles
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility
UNGC United Nations Global Compact
UN United Nations
IT Information Technology
GGGI Global Gender Gap Index
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination
WID Women in Development
GAD Gender and Development
K-LEAP Kutch Livelihood Education Advancement Programme

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